Flexible pocket receptacle



0a. 24, 1939. w, R, B XTON 2,176,987

FLEXIBLE POCKET RECEPTAQLE Filed Dec. 16, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I V INVEFQTOR Y M005? 1?. fiaxrolv AT ORN S Oct. 24, 1939'. T N 2,176,987

FLEXIBLE POCKET RECEPTACLE Filed Dec. 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Mmvzw A Burro/v CZqJQu-W A ORNE S 1939- w. R. BUXTON ,1

FLEXIBLE POCKET RECEPTACLE Filed Dec. 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR AT ORNEY Patented a. 24. less PATENT OFFICE H .1mm mm roelnl-r RECEPIAOLE n /Bl i n. onsineadow,

' Application December 18, 1938,8erlal No. 246,113

.- Thisin'ventioli relates to an improvedbill fold. Its object is to provide a bill fold, the elements of whiclfimay be most conveniently arranged for cooperation in a variety of ways fora variety of uses The structure by which this is accomplished audits particular utility from various aspects will be disclosed with reference to the accompa'nying drawings, in which- Fig. l is an envelope blank of a preferred form;

Fig. 2 is a loose panel wall to combine with the blanket Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a view of the parts of Figs. 1 and 2 assembled as a bill fold;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a slightly larger bill fold within whic the one of Fig. 3 may be nested;

Fig. 5 is a vie of the bill folds of Figs. 3 and 4 nested; with parts brokenaway to indicate some features of the following description; and

Fig. 6 is a view of a partition wall which may I be usd vith the bill fold, such as is shown in Fig. 4. I v

With the elements shown in the drawings I can make up my improved bill fold as follows: In Fig. 1 the edge panels 2 are folded against panels 3 and the latter against panel 4. Then the stitches I movement lengthwise of-the panels and in said iiinways. I provide a predetermined median folding line Fin main panel I and in loose panel 0.

This line is preferably in the form of a built-in groove. -.'ine fpanel is made of a material like leather, 'ofa grade. that is flexible and springy.

a with thefolding'lines Fbuilt in as a groove, panels' l and l-wiiihave; a definite function to al- 1 1 ways folwohsuch lines 1' unless something prevents; whenevenone folds the panels together in, use; ,-In--the composite unit of Fig.3, even though loose panel I has shifted so the lines F- are not coinciding at the timeof folding one halfon the-other, loose-panel 6 will shift automatically in its runways so that the lines F will coini- 50 side during the folding operation. Of course lines F may be provided as predetermined folding lines in any of the various ways known'to leather workers'. Thebill fold 'of'Fig. 3, which is-only one element of my present invention, will operategen- 5 erally L ke-the, c mp e bi l fold of my prior Patents Nos. 1,866,618 and 2,011,846, There is a difference in the construction, such-as the curved or angularly sloping end edges to which I will refer, such edges having a function in my present combination which I will specifically point out. 5

'The slightly larger bill 'fold of Fig. 4 may be made likethat of Fig. 3. The difference in size is arranged so that the smaller one may be nested in the larger one and when nested will preferably have a limited longitudinal sliding l0 Fig. 3. Specific reference to this difference and 2 its function will be referred to later. In addition, the larger structure has decorative strips 9 on itsloose panel 8'. The lines It represent the open end of little pockets formed in panels 3'. The lines ll represent the ends of little partition walls in thepockets. The latter may be formed by cutting into layers the -leather of panels 3'. back to the end edges from lines. It. Partition walls I I may then be'inserted and bound in by stitches I after the panels are folded to form the structure. Other than these differences the larger bill fold of Fig. l is preferably built like Fig. 3 and already described.

To make thebill folds or envelopes nest, the smaller oneof'Fig. 3 may be canted with one curved end pushedinto and toward the end of the open compartment of the larger bill fold of Fig. 4. Then, by pushing down, the otherlcurved endwill cam its way into the opposite insideend of the larger bill fold.- Or the smaller .bfll fold 40 maybe folded just enough to shorten itsoverall length a little, inserted through-the top opening of the larger bill fold, and released to spring into n s ed pofltion on accountof the resiliency and tendency of the material to stay flat. In this canting-or folding slightly for. assemblyjthere is an ease of operation and lack oi'special attention necessary as compared-to other ways of getting the nested result to which I will refer.

It should lie-noted that when the two bill folds to are assembl in-nestedposition and folded together, the walls that are folded all have built-in median folding grooves as F, or instead of such ,built-in grooves, central lines of. fold may be provided by folding along the central line or in as other ways with or without grooves. This makes the subsequent folding actions easy and central roove line. Where the outer or back wall has apredetermined central line of fold, the panel 6,

being stiff enough and being braced in the runways provided by the folds of panels 2, 3, and i, will shift to theright folding position. And the smaller bill fold, when nested, will do the same. The two bill folds when safely nested'as one, embody in the form shown three main compartments, while each of the nested elements alone has only one main. compartment. The combination ofthe'two nested bill foldswith all its main compartments, however, folds up in spite of its thickness, with all grooves coinciding and .thus quite easily, and with as flat a folded condition as possible. This is important in multi- -compartment bill folds and the importance increases as the number of compartments increases and as the thickness of the compartment con tents in use increases. In my construction the contents, as many bills in all compartments, may be folded very conveniently and in remarkably good fashion to minimize the bulk.

The smaller bill fold in the combination is seen from Fig. 5 to be oppositely arranged, that is'with its open side or edge bottomed adjacent the closed edge of the larger one. In this position it serves as a secret pocket for the larger bill fold but without being fastened in any way to the latter so as to make it necessary to use both when only one is wanted. In their assembled position the inner bill fold can bedeliberately taken out and completely away from the larger bill fold, because the inner bill fold is intentionally made entirely separable so that it can be-easily handled when desired, entirely apart from the main or larger bill fold. One importance of this feature is in the way to carry large denomination bills in the secret pocket of the main bill 'fold as arranged in Fig. 5, without a chance of displaying them in the ordinary course of casually handling small bills within the main bill fold. When thetime comes to use the large bills, the secret pocket'being entirely separable from the large bill fold, the handling, as distinguished from storage, of the large bills is possible without the cumbersome, handling of the main bill fold with its contents at the same time. By complete separation the attention can be concentrated on the one thing-the secret pocket bill fold and its contents apart from everything else.

The taking out of the small bill fold from the position of Fig. 5 by the cam action of the end curves is a little easier by reason'of the difference in the curve a as compared to I), see Fig. 3.

- This difference makes it easier to cam curve b from the larger bill fold of Fig. 4. When used,-not

as a secret pocket, but right side up, there is no occasion to remove the inner bill fold in the regular course of using the combination.

The combination has a variety of other advantages than that one of having a very convenient secret pocket for large bills in the main bill fold. For example, these bill folds being ordinarily made of leather may have different finishes. The smaller one may be made of less rugged appearance and less gauge than the larger, and thinner of course. Thus, a man may use the small one alone with dress clothes; the larger one alone with business clothes when he may not need any secret pocket; in combination with the smaller one, open side up, for ordinary large secret pocket inthe main bill fold is not needed,

there is a definite utility nevertheless for the inner bil-l fold.. This utility is its action within the 1 main bill fold as a partition. -In some' bill fold constructions within the scope of the present invention, I now disclose the plan to provide a bill fold partition having the form shown in Fig. 6.

This may be made of a single stiif but flexible sheet, of leather for example. It can be inserted or removed from the main bill fold as described in connection with such a partition in the form of a smaller bill fold. As a partition alone, the element of Fig. 6, divided by a median fold line into panel parts l2 and I3, combines with advantage to the manufacturer and user with the main bill fold of Fig. 4. When placed therein it will fold correctly with the main bill fold; it will stay put practically as well as if sewed in place; its ends will be hidden as if it were permanently attached, but it will work better than if restrained by attachment-s. The manufacturer will find it of economic advantage to assemble or put it in place for the multi-partitioned bill fold. The user will find. it very convenient to take it out and put it in himself as he wants a simpler or less simple (multi-partitioned) bill fold at various times.

Instead of having-the ends of the main bill fold and its companion element (either in the form of a secret pocket or a partition element) curved as shown, one could have them at right or other angles to the upper and lower edges. Then the opening of the main bill fold should be made restricted enough so the smaller element would have its ends tucked into short pockets beyond the ends of such restricted opening. This modified construction is shown in a previously filed application Serial No. 198,179, filed March .26, 1938, of which the present application is a continuation in part. The present application with the feature of the curved ends discloses the form of my invention which at present I consider the preferred and best form known to me for putting the invention to practice, and I point out in the following claims what I consider as my invention in the premises.

I claim:

'1. The combination for a bill fold of two atvelopes of different sizes to nest one within. the other, .both envelopes made up as bill folds with a line of fold in their walls for folding at their central dividing lines, the larger one having its open side constricted enough to prevent direct inertion of the smaller one but having a recess-extension of its open compartment adjacent one end at least of its open side so that the smaller envelope can beinserted either froma canted position or slightly folded condition and then nested by straightening out entirely within the larger envelope.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which there is a recess from the open compartment of the larger envelope adjacent each end of the open side to that compartment.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the inner walls of each bill fold are made up of a large panel only slightly smaller than the outer wall and held in relatively shiftable position within runways provided by short panel wallsattached at the bottom edge of the outer'wall and in other. panels attached at their top edges to said short panels 'adja'cent the top edge of the outer wall, in which runways said large panel may slide to automatically center its folding groove with those of other walls.

4. The combination of claim 1 made up with the smaller envelope nested in the larger envelope and with the closed edge of the smaller envelope adJacent the open edge of the larger enve in their nested assembly.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which the end edges of thesmaller envelope are formed as cam edges and the ends of the larger envelope are curved outwardly from the endsof the top opening to the end points of the bottom edge.

6. An envelope made of stiff but flexible material, leather for example, comprising a back wall and top and bottom runways formed by panel portions attached to the back wall, said runways having oppositely arranged open ends facing each other from spaced positions on opposite sides of the central dividing line of the back wall, a panel loosely mounted with its ends in said opposite runways and shiftable longitudinally in said runways within predetermined limits, said loosely mounted panel nearly filling the runways and always bridging the space between the open ends thereof, said runways and panel therein forming a composite inner wall for the envelope, the attached end edges of said outer and inner wall being curved outwardly, with the open edge of the envelope substantially less in length than the overall lengthof the envelope, a second and smaller envelope of like construction made to nest within the larger envelope and entirely separable therefrom when desired, the end portions of the smaller envelope lying whenin nested condition R. BUXTON. 

